1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hub nut caulking apparatus, in which a hub nut coupled with an axle shaft of a vehicle is caulked so that the hub nut is not released. In particular, the present invention relates to a hub nut caulking apparatus capable of improving the convenience, the stability, and the efficiency of a caulking work and simplifying the configuration thereof to improve the productivity thereof.
2. Background of Related Art
In general, power generated from an engine of a vehicle is translated to an axle shaft through a transmission, and the power received by the axle shaft is transmitted to a driving wheel through a hub and a wheel disk coupled with an outer end portion of the axle shaft.
In this case, the axle shaft is coupledwith the hub through a hub nut. Since the hub nut must not be released in the state that the hub nut is semipermanently coupled, a caulking work of caulking the hub nut into a groove formed in an end portion of the axle shaft by pressing and deforming a portion of the hub nut after coupling the hub nut with the axle shaft is performed.
However, since the caulking work is performed manually via using a chisel and a hammer, the productivity and the working efficiency are degraded. In addition, caulking forth for the deformation of the hub nut is not uniformly provided to each axle shaft, so that the caulking work is not nearly performed according to regulations. Accordingly, during driving, the hub nut is released, and the wheel of a vehicle is separated from the axle shaft, which may result in a big automotive accident.
In addition, as a related art, a jig for hub nut caulking is disclosed in Korean Unexmined Utility Model Publication No. 1998-022480. The jig for hub nut caulking can solve the inconvenience of using a chisel and a hammer, but the caulking work is manually performed, so that caulking may not be uniformly performed, and there is a limitation in improving work efficiency.
Further, as another related art, an automatic caulking apparatus of a lock nut is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-0889668. Since the caulking apparatus is automatically driven, uniform caulking is possible. However, the structure and the operating manner of the caulking apparatus are very complex, so that the manufacturing cost, and the operation and maintenance cost are significantly increased. Accordingly, there is a limitation in improving productivity.